| Brother in the Land | |
|---|---|
Cover of 1994 Puffin Books paperback edition |
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| Author(s) | Robert Swindells |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Young adult post-apocalyptic novel |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Publication date | 1984 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 151 pp |
| ISBN | 0-192-71491-0 |
| OCLC Number | 12470878 |
Brother in the Land is a 1984 post-apocalyptic novel by Robert E. "Bob" Swindells. It follows a teenage boy as he fights for survival following a nuclear attack on his home. The novel won The Other Award for 1984, Teenage Sci-Fi Trust, book of the year (1984).
Danny Lodge is a teenager who is one of the unlucky ones, a survivor, one of those who have come through a nuclear war alive. In plain language, he sets down all that has happened to him, what he sees, and what he feels in the first year-and-a-half after the bomb has dropped.
The novel introduces Danny, who lives with his parents and younger brother, Ben, in the fictional town of Skipley. On the day the bombs drop, Danny, wanting some time away from his parents' shop takes his bike out onto the moors; while there, he notices that a storm is brewing and is just heading for home when he spots a concrete pillbox left over from World War II. He takes shelter inside and, moments later, sees a bright flash, which he initially thinks is a lightning strike. But, when he peers out, he sees a mushroom cloud and realizes what has happened. For the following night he hides in the pillbox, expecting to die at any time, but, in the end, he crawls out and decides to search for his family.
On the hillside, Danny encounters a man in a radiation suit, who confiscates his bike and orders him to "get back to town". Arriving in Skipley, Danny finds the town in ruins and learns that his family's shop has collapsed, killing his mother. His father and Ben have survived as they were in the cellar, which the Lodges use as a stockroom. With so much food in their stockroom, the Lodges have plenty to live on, but the other survivors are not so lucky and, as the weeks pass, people begin fighting over food. Shortly after the war, Danny meets a girl named Kim Tyson, who sums the situation up in the following words: "Cavemen versus gentlemen is no contest."
Shortly after Danny meets Kim, the local Commissioner issues an order that "all burned, sick and badly injured persons" should be taken out of the ruins and placed at the roadside so they can be taken to hospital; in fact, the "hospital" is a front for his plan to kill off the worst of the bomb casualties. Later, the Commissioner implements a system of food and fuel rationing, with severe penalties introduced for hoarding. The injured, elderly and people driven insane by the nuclear attack (known as 'Spacers') are given poisoned rations. But Mr Lodge refuses to hand over his stock and, though Danny and Ben do register for ration cards, they only visit the local feeding centre once.
Presently, the Commissioner's men come to the Lodges' shop and arrest Mr Lodge. Moments later, the truck bearing Mr Lodge is blown up, killing everyone on board and leaving Danny and Ben orphans. The brothers seek sanctuary at the home of Sam Branwell, a smallholder who, along with several other survivors, has formed a resistance movement called Masada (this is an acronym for "Movement to Arm Skipley Against Dictational Authority); their aims are to overthrow the Commissioner and prevent him from creating a feudal society. Other members of Masada include Danny's former PE teacher, Keith Rhodes (the one responsible for blowing up the truck) and Kim, who helps out during the day.
Shortly after Christmas the people of Skipley are forced to leave the town and move into the camp which the Commissioner has set up. From a series of defectors, Danny learns that conditions at the camp are reminiscent of those at Belsen, with the people treated as slave labour. As a result, the members of Masada are forced to step up their campaign of resistance and, one night, launch a raid on the camp. After a battle, the Commissioner is overthrown and Branwell is established as the new leader.
Soon, a new community has been built with most ex-soldiers defecting and assimilating into the new agriculture-based society. Branwell presents a moderating influence on those who advocate the execution of the captured ex-military dictators for "war crimes"--especially the woman considered responsible for giving out poisoned rations (who is confined for her own safety). For a time, it looks as though the worst of the post-war crisis is over.
But, during the summer, it becomes clear that the struggle for survival is far from over when the camp's crops fail due to the effects of radiation. Meanwhile, Kim's sister (Maureen) is pregnant and Kim is worried that the baby may be deformed; in the end, it is born without a mouth and dies not long afterwards.
At one point, Swiss troops visit, revealing there were communities all over Europe like Branwell's which he terms a "commune" or "communist" society. Believing the Swiss troops would rescue them, the camp foolishly eat many of their rations. In fact, the Swiss confiscate their weapons and disable the few vehicles they have. By now, the camp's food supplies are exhausted, forcing the people to scavenge for whatever they can find, and many are dying. Gradually people start to leave in small groups to fend for themselves. Shortly after Branwell dies from exhaustion during the second winter after the war, Danny, Kim and Ben leave the camp and head to Holy Island, where Danny hopes they will be safe.
During the journey to Holy Island, the three encounter a group on motorbikes (Rhodes being one of them) in the village of Osmotherley. Rhodes is about to shoot Danny for the food that he'd found down the side of a sink in a café, but Kim intervenes with a gun and Rhodes and his buddy are killed.
Ben becomes ill with radiation sickness - otherwise known as a 'creeping dose' - and dies. Danny and Kim bury him in the garden of an empty house. In the house, Danny finds a ledger and starts writing an account of his experiences after the war. He ends by saying that he plans to leave his account behind for future generations to read; he hopes it will warn them not to go down the path which led to the war. Finally, Danny dedicates his story to Ben, his "brother in the land".
In 1994, the book was reprinted with a "new final chapter". In this revised ending, Ben still dies, but, rather than leave his account behind, Danny takes the ledger with him to Holy Island and Kim is expecting a baby, the third of Holy Island and Danny is the father.If it's going to be a boy, they'll name it Ben
The nearest city, Branford, is likely to be Bradford, in the West Yorkshire metropolitan area. The population is stated as 400,000 - although the real Bradford has more.
The town in which Danny lives, Skipley, most closely fits Shipley. Skipley is stated as being 5 miles (8.0 km) from Branford, but the real Shipley is almost part of Bradford's urban sprawl and is 3 miles (4.8 km) from the city centre.
The name of Skipley is probably a portmanteau of Shipley and another actual town called Skipton, over 15 miles (24 km) from Bradford.
The location of Osmotherley, a later setting in the book, is non-disputable because the village of this name actually exists. It is in North Yorkshire - six miles (10 km) from Northallerton, 14 miles (23 km) from Middlesbrough and more than 40 miles (64 km) from Bradford and Shipley.
Kershaw Farm is the location of the Commissioner and the authorities supposed to be restoring order in Skipley. There is a real Kershaw Farm - but this is near Hebden Bridge, Calder Valley - half way from Bradford to Manchester. It is 12 miles (19 km) from Shipley, but both main roads and railways have to take a longer 20-mile (32 km) route avoiding large hills.
The Holy Island mentioned in the book does exist; there are actually several islands called 'Holy Island', but the one that Danny and Kim most likely reach is Lindisfarne, off the east coast of Northumberland, because Osmotherley is in the general direction towards it from West Yorkshire.
Independent filmmaker Andrew Jackson has said on many occasions he would like to make a film adaptation, with his teenage son Nathan as director. No cast members have been confirmed yet but hints are that John Turturro will play the Swiss army pilot.